


The Tale of Robin and Regina

by thisisamadhouse



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Inspired by The Lord of the Rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 19:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18239333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisamadhouse/pseuds/thisisamadhouse
Summary: He is just a Man and she is the fairest of the Elves on this side of the sea, can their love survive the war?





	The Tale of Robin and Regina

**Author's Note:**

> Liberally adapted from both the movie version of the Lord of the Rings, and the appendix of the books. I Don't own either LOTR or OUAT

__

 

 _I did it_ , Robin thinks as he glances out the high window towards the people milling down below, some working on the final touches for his coronation, others already gathering to see their new King. After all those years of hardships, battles, and sacrifices, he is finally about to assume Earnur’s crown and reunite the realms of Men under his banner.

It should be a day of rejoicing, the beginning of a new Age for Middle-earth, but Robin’s heart is heavy with the memories of those who can’t be here by his side, family and friends lost to him forever. Most of all, Robin misses _her_ more than any other, the one to whom he has given his heart and soul: Regina, the fairest of the High Elves still living on this side of the shore.

Lightly touching the pendant she gifted him the last time he saw her, he wonders if she has already left Middle-earth, if her mother, Cora, has finally convinced her to give up on him and seek refuge and everlasting peace in Valinor. Cora Half-Elven, the Lady of Rivendell, is powerful, respected and feared in equal measure among the Elves. A distant relative to Robin, she had chosen to embrace immortality as an Elf rather than the mortal condition of his ancestors. She reluctantly took in Robin and his mother after his father’s death, recognizing that the last heir of the thrones of the North and the South could prove valuable in the fight against the Dark Lord. She never foresaw that he would capture the heart of her greatest treasure.

* * *

_∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞_

_It was a strange day for Robin. At barely twenty years of age, and almost all of those spent in Rivendell, he had finally found out the truth about his origins: the last heir of Isildur, he was the only one still able to claim the thrones of Arnor and Gondor, but the path was full of obstacles, with the Dark Lord’s Shadow growing everyday._

_He was walking in the woods, pondering his fate, recalling the stories of old, tales of bravery and glory, and imagining if his name would one day appear alongside those of revered heroes. Singing one of his favourite ballads, lost in his thoughts, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks at the vision standing in the clearing before him. He must have fallen asleep, he thought, or all those evenings spent sitting at the Minstrels’ foot had granted him new abilities he had been unaware of until then, for he had been intoning the Lay of Luthien Tinuviel, the most beautiful of all beings, mortal or immortal, that ever was, whose love for a Man had once inspired the world and moved even the Judge of the Dead, and surely there she was, conjured up from his words._

_B _arefoot_ in the green grass, she wore a pale blue gown, with short sleeves just off her shoulders, revealing a smooth, sun-kissed skin, her long, dark brown, silky, wavy hair fell down to the small of her back, the light filtering through the high trees caught highlights of copper in them, and Robin was mesmerized, the desire to run his fingers through the soft strands overwhelming._

_Stepping closer, he called out “Tinuviel, Tinuviel”, as his forefather had once done, but when she turned, startled to find him here, she seemed confused and arched an eyebrow, asking him why he would use that name. It took him a long moment to answer, he had been struck speechless at the sight of her. All his years in Rivendell, amongst the grandest and most refined creatures in Middle-earth, could not have prepared him for how utterly enchanting this Lady was. She seemed young, but then most Elves did, one of the many blessings granted to them, her chestnut eyes were intense, appraising him, her face was as flawless and unblemished as the rest of her, only a scar marked her upper lip, but it took nothing away from her beauty, only added mystery and made him more curious. She was petite but held her head high, her bearing was regal, and looking closely he could link her features and manners to the Lady of Rivendell herself, and he wondered if they were related._

_As he studied her, she tilted her head, still waiting for an answer, and he stammered a response, telling her of how he had been singing about Tinuviel and thought he had made her appear out of thin air._

_“I am not Luthien, though I have been told that I look like her. I am Regina, daughter of Cora, Lady of Rivendell, and I think I know who you are: Robin, son of Robert, the heir of Isildur, my mother’s ward and our distant cousin,” she told him, and he couldn’t hide his surprise at hearing this, for he had never known that Cora had a daughter._

_“I spent the past few years with my father’s kin in Lothlorien, I have just returned to Imladris, and I wanted to walk through the woods the way I used to do… before,” and though she looked away, he couldn’t possibly miss the sorrowful expression that swept over her face, even the sunlight seemed to dim, a dark cloud obscuring it._

_He had heard about the fate of Cora’s husband, Henry, once a mighty Elf Lord, who was attacked by Orques and wounded beyond any hope of healing in Middle-earth._

_“I did not mean to cause you pain, Milady, please forgive my tactlessness.”_

_She shook her head, dismissing the memories and the shadow, the clearing bathed in sunbeams once more. Robin could see that she was about to take her leave, and he couldn’t bear the thought, so he spoke up once more._

_“I must admit I have not yet trailed far from Rivendell, would you tell me about Lothlorien, whose splendour, I have been told, is without equal on this side of the Sea?”_

_She hesitated, biting her bottom lip in thoughts, but then his sincere eagerness seemed to persuade her, and she sat down, beckoning him to join her._

_Robin had been smitten at the mere sight of her, but after hearing her talk about the beauty of her father’s land, evoking images, sounds and smells so precise that he felt like he had already been there, he knew that he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life by her side, listening with rapt attention to anything she deemed him worthy enough to share with._

_That first encounter sealed their destiny: though she only seemed amused by him in the beginning, after weeks of finding him always close by, never overbearing, only willing to listen, or distract her, or simply sit in silence, she started seeing him in a different light, and it confused her._

_“I never thought that Luthien’s fate was to be envied,” Regina told him once. “All those sufferings, trials and tribulations, and in the end they were given so little time together. Was it really worth it?”_

_He clasped one of her hand gently, giving her time to withdraw it if she so wished, and squeezed when she didn’t. “I’m sure they thought it was, to have the chance to live their love in any way possible.”_

_“But to give up everything she had, to renounce her gifts, leave her family behind, forsaking the chance to ever see them again?” She trailed off, looking away, and Robin felt a pang when realization hit him. He cursed himself for his selfishness and his thoughtlessness, he had been so spellbound that he had failed to understand what their attachment could mean for her. She had eternity to look forward to, thousands of years to see all the wonders of the world, and what did he have to offer?_

_She noticed his grave mood, and offered him a small smile. “You are so young,” she said. “You know nothing of the world. Once you leave here, you will forget all about me.”_

_“I doubt I would ever forget meeting you,” was his reply, but she only smiled indulgently, as if humoring a child._

_“Maybe you should.”_

_It was only a matter of time before Cora got wind of their close friendship, and she was not pleased with him. She had him summoned to remind him of his mission, of the very reason she had harboured him in the first place: to prepare him for the War to come._

_“You are not worthy of her hand, Robin, son of Robert,” she told him coldly. “You should not trouble yourself with an infatuation, but should get ready for the fight waiting for you beyond the borders of this land,” and so with clenched fists and gritted teeth, Robin bowed to her and left the room._

_Knowing that he could not risk losing the Lady’s benevolence, he tried to avoid Regina after this, thinking that severing their bond would be less painful. It wasn’t though, and his heart was bleeding. She found him in the stables, less than a week later, on the eve of his departure, as he brushed his horse, readying it for the long journey ahead. She was silent at first, gently stroking the stallion’s head, feeding it an apple, as she softly spoke in Elvish._

_"My mother does not speak for me,” Regina whispered, covering his hand and stopping the movement of the brush. He turned his head towards her, holding her gaze as she stepped closer to him and cupped his jaw. She brushed her lips against his. He barely felt the pressure before she leaned back, closely watching his reaction, and he would be damned if that was the first time he saw her unsure of anything. He crashed his lips to hers, trying to convey all the passion and love he felt into his kiss. If she was surprised, she hid it well, instead returning his embrace fiercely until they had no choice but to part to breathe._

_“She is right though,” Robin murmured against her hair, after a long moment of peaceful silence. “I am no one while I stay hidden here, a mere title does not a King make. If ever I am to be the one who redeem my ancestor’s weakness, I can’t do it from the safety of Imladris.”_

_She looked at him with eyes full of such intense sorrow that he was tempted to pretend he had never spoken a word. “The world out there is dangerous, you may not return. So many have already been taken, and countless more will follow before the end.” The tears falling along her cheeks were like daggers stabbing him in the heart._

_“I am not afraid, Milady. The Dark Lord himself could not stop me from finding my way back to you,” he swore._

_He left the next day, watching back to keep her in sight until she was too far away to distinguish, and then he launched his horse into the gallop, wanting to put as much distance between him and his love as possible before his resolve failed him._

_∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞_

_Every single moment spent with her was so clear and sharp in his mind. He hung onto them during the hardest moments of their separation. More than twenty years passed before he saw her again, in Lothlorien this time. The Lord and Lady had let him through, offering him to rest for a while._

_He had changed, had become a Man, a soldier, a leader, he was broader in stature, and more somber in spirit, with the weight of his fate sometimes stifling him, but when he set eyes on her, he felt all of twenty again, the smile splitting his face wider than it ever had before. He didn’t spare a thought for the curious eyes on him, or the decorum of the graceful Elves around them, he couldn’t have stopped himself from running to her and pick her up to hug her against him if he had tried. And she, who mere moments before had seemed forlorn and lost, was now clutching his brand new tunic tightly in her little fists, suppressing a sob as he murmured how much he had missed her, how many times the thought of her had given him strength before battle._

_The Lord and Lady of Lothlorien, Regina’s grandparents, are more indulgent than her mother. Her grandmother is wise, only wishing for Regina’s happiness, and she knew that their hearts were true. She blessed their union, though she reminded Robin that triumph was his only prospect, Cora would never accept that her daughter renounced her immortality for anyone less than the greatest King._

_Once more Regina and Robin had to say goodbye, but this time she would not let him go without a promise, a promise that she would bind her fate to his, that she believed in him and his victory. She had made her peace with what it meant, that she could never follow her kin to Valinor, that she would never see her father again, but her father would understand, he would want her to follow her heart. She gifted him her pendant, a jewel reflecting the light of the brightest star in the night sky who had once belonged to her grandmother._

_“Your mother will accuse me of stealing it away,” he managed to lightly tease, the emotion of the moment nearly choking him._

_“You can’t steal something that has been given to you,” she replied, and he knew she wasn’t just talking about the necklace._

_∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞_

* * *

Robin shakes himself from his memories, they have spent more time apart than together, his stays in Rivendell and Lorien few and far between as the Enemy grew stronger. She had her own responsibilities, her talents required to help protect the realms of the Elves. She is fierce his Regina, a skillful warrior who trained herself hard after her father was brought down by the Orques, and who inherited great gifts from both sides of her family. More than once, he thought that together they would be unstoppable, but never would he have wanted to put in harm’s way. He doubts that he will have the chance to find out now. A knock at the door and Will, his friend and long-time companion, enters the room to bring him outside, the time has come.

The joy of the crowd gathered is infectious, and he lets it fill his heart as the crown is placed on his head, and as he stands back up and walks among his people, accepting their love and gratitude, he feels Will stop and gasp by his side. Turning his head he sees people part, letting through a company amid which he recognizes many familiar faces: the Elves have come, and Robin feels his hope returning.

The Lord and Lady of Lorien grin widely at him, and even the Lady of Rivendell give him a faint smile. She stops his progress and seems to steel herself for what she is about to say.

“My judgement may have been hasty, but remember that she is my greatest treasure, I could not entrust her to just anyone.”

And Robin nods, understanding, because he is not sure he would have reacted any differently had he been in her stead. Cora moves away, and there she is, more radiant than ever, Regina, his Regina wearing the same gown than the first time he saw her, and almost a lifetime has passed since that fateful moment. He has to touch her, to make sure she is real, and his hand meets hers, bringing it to his chest and brushing his lips against it.

“You did not think I would miss this day,Thief?” She asks, her hand pressing against his heart, the tips of her fingers covering their pendant.

“Not for one second,” he says, and as she laughs, for he was never able to lie to her, he embraces her tightly, twirling her around as they kiss, everyone clapping and rejoicing.

This is the beginning of a New Age, and he wouldn’t want anyone else by his side to share it with.          

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think, this is the first thing I was able to complete in ages and I would love to hear your opinion.


End file.
